Learning Under Fire

The recent spurt of school violence has left Foothill High School principal Jeanne Donadio worried about her students.

"All this violence, it gives me sleepless nights," says Donadio, who recently moved to Foothill from Boulder City High School. "Next to academics, safety is the most important thing in all schools."

Though Foothill had no connection to shootings near Bonanza and Palo Verde high schools, Donadio says she recognizes that shootings and violence can happen anywhere.

"We're taking necessary precautions to keep students safe," she says. "Currently we're using our video cameras and monitoring people entering and exiting the school as best we can, and next year we're planning on having students carry their student IDs with them at all times. That way, if a student looks suspicious, we can see if they're even one of our students."

While administrators are doing what they can to make schools safe, students still have their worries.

"I see a lot of people being picked on and teased," says Foothill senior Alexandria Stone, 18. "I don't necessarily feel safe at school. I'm not sure you can prevent these things all the time. Columbine happened because those two boys felt victimized by their classmates. It's really upsetting."

Carrie Fleming, who works at Foothill, says school violence isn't really something she's had to worry about.

"I feel safe that our deans are taking care of our students and can usually see if a problem is going to happen and can prevent it," she says. Fleming does admit, though, that she thinks bullying can lead to a more serious issue, such as a shooting.

"Most of my students have had someone bully them at one point, most of which comes through MySpace," she says. "They tell me if they haven't been bullied, then they know someone who has."

Currently all schools nationwide have the right to check students' MySpace accounts if there is a complaint about harassment so they can try to head off problems before they get worse. Depending on the severity of the matter, a student can be issued a request for a parent conference, or even be suspended.

But while some students worry about school violence -- whether stemming from bullying or other issues -- others are indifferent.

"Maybe if something like that happened at my school I would be upset, but until then I feel just fine coming to school," says Foothill junior Erin Sinanian, 17.

Jerry Artiga, 17, who also attends Foothill as a senior, agrees with Sinanian.

"I don't doubt it can happen here," he says. "I'm concerned with school safety, but I sincerely doubt that it would happen, because there's always rumors about these things that never happen."

At Coronado and Liberty high schools in recent months -- and Foothill last year -- rumors flew that shootings would take place, though they never materialized.

"When you hear about so many of these rumors that are totally empty, you just begin to ignore them and think that it will never happen," Artiga says.

"I went to school the day of the threat," Sinanian says. "On the days of the stupid threats there's always police around, and nothing happens anyway."

Liberty student Chelsea Hagemann, 16, says the rumor that Liberty was going to be "shot up" by Silverado students after a fight was prompted after the Palo Verde shooting by a rumor over MySpace.

"It was really uncomfortable going to school with that rumor going around," Hagemann says. "On the day that it was supposed to happen I didn't go to school, but friends of mine who did go said that all day the administration was on the intercom telling students not to be scared and that it was just a rumor and that nothing was going to happen. It was really scary."

Stone, who lived in Virginia for most of her life, brought up the Virginia Tech shooting last year in which 33 people died.

"I remember the day Virginia Tech happened," she says. "They played it on the news at school that day. I remember thinking, 'A lot my friends go to that school,' and thought about going there until I moved. It horrified me to think one of my friends could have been killed.

"It goes to show school violence can happen anywhere, because I don't think anyone thought that could happen there."

The violence on campuses has parents worrying about their children's well-being.

"As a parent it's terrifying to know that something at school could lead to a shooting -- or worse, death," says Donadio, whose daughters were attending Bonanza in the late '90s when the school was locked down because of a robbery and police chase near campus.

"I hope to prevent all of my students' parents from knowing that feeling, and I want my students to be able to feel safe at school."